The roots of Norwegian literature reach back more than 1,000 years into the pagan Norse past. In its evolution Norwegian literature was closely intertwined with Icelandic literature and with Danish literature. Only after the separation of Norway from Denmark in 1814 is it possible to point to a literature that is unambiguously Norwegian. This article focuses on literature produced from the 16th century onward by writers of Norwegian birth in Bokmål (Dano-Norwegian; also called Riksmål) and, later, Nynorsk (New Norwegian). Because Norwegian literature and Icelandic literature are often indistinguishable in their earliest forms, both are discussed together under Icelandic literature. Writers of Norwegian birth who produced works in Danish are discussed both in this article and under Danish literature.

The 16th and 17th centuries

Political union between Denmark and Norway started in 1380, and Danish eventually became the official language and the most widely used literary medium. Copenhagen, with its university, established itself as the cultural capital of the two countries. Not until after the Reformation were there signs of significant literary activity in Norway itself—for example, Om Norgis rige (“Concerning the Kingdom of Norway”), a nostalgic apologia for Norway written in 1567 by Absalon Pederssøn Beyer. The most original and most conspicuously Norwegian writer of this age was Petter Dass, whose Nordlands trompet (The Trumpet of Nordland) gives a lively picture in verse of the life of a clergyman and his part of the country; although probably completed before the turn of the century, this work was not printed until 1739.

The 18th century

Several of Denmark’s leading writers of the 18th century were of Norwegian birth, preeminently Ludvig Holberg and the members of the Norske Selskab (Norwegian Society). Established in Copenhagen in 1772 by a group of resident Norwegians, it looked to French rather than to German and English literature for models. Within Norway itself there was little overt literary activity, though the establishment in 1760 of a Royal Norwegian Society of Learning in Trondheim was evidence that Norway was beginning to assert its cultural aspirations. The poet Christian Braunmann Tullin typifies the age and its tension between cultural pessimism and optimism.

Ludvig Holberg, detail of an oil painting after a portrait (destroyed) attributed to Roselius, …

Courtesy of the Library of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen.

The 19th century

The Age of Wergeland

After the signing of a new constitution in 1814, an exciting and difficult age began for Norway: an opportunity seemed to be offered to develop an independent Norwegian culture and way of life, but there were deep differences of opinion as to how this could best be achieved. Johan Sebastien Cammermeyer Welhaven was the chief representative of those who insisted that the existing Danish element in the culture should not be neglected. Henrik Wergeland was a spokesman for those whose nationalistic pride led them, on the other hand, to demand a complete break with Denmark. Welhaven stood for a coolly intellectual approach, for restraint and control, and for conscious artistry, as his own sonnet cycleNorges dæmring (1834; “The Dawn of Norway”) exemplifies. Wergeland was more passionate and revolutionary, and his enormous epicSkabelsen, mennesket og messias (1830; “Creation, Humanity and Messiah”) typified the spirit he admired.

Wergeland dominated the age as a poet, orator, and social reformer, and the clash between him and Welhaven and between the two factions associated with them—the “patriots” and the “intelligentsia”—began an ideological conflict that persisted throughout the century.

National Romanticism

The literature of the mid-19th century, known as Norway’s “national Romanticism,” continued to reflect the country’s larger aspirations. The compilation and publication, between 1841 and 1844, of the landmark Norske folkeeventyr (Norwegian Folk Tales) by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe—preceded by Anders Faye’s Norske sagn (1833; “Norwegian Folk Legends”) and followed by Magnus Brostrup Landstad’s Norske folkeviser (1852–53; “Norwegian Folk Ballads”)—indicated a lively interest in the past, as did Peter Andreas Munch’s eight-volume history of the Norwegian people (1857–63). Ivar Aasen was the creative spirit behind the Landsmål movement to establish a literary language based on rural dialects linked with Old Norse. Many publications of these years, including earlier works of Ibsen and Bjørnson, turned consciously to Norway’s heroic past and its peasants. To these years belonged also the lyric poetry of Aasmund Olafson Vinje, founder of the periodical Dølen (“The Dalesman”), who adopted Nynorsk as his literary language.

In 1855 Camilla Collett, Wergeland’s sister, published Amtmandens døttre (The District Governor’s Daughters), which, by considering the place of women in society, marked a beginning of a trend that, encouraged by the immensely influential Danish critic Georg Brandes, culminated in the 1870s and ’80s in the realistic “problem” literature of Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, and their contemporaries. l (1877; Pillars of Society) was the first of a succession of problem dramas by Ibsen to win him worldwide fame. By then he had already written two verse dramas, Brand (1866) and Peer Gynt (1867), and his long “double drama” Kejser og galilæer (1873; The Emperor and the Galilean). The first substantial problem drama by Bjørnson was En fallit (1875; The Bankrupt). Although never the world figure that Ibsen became, Bjørnson was a leading personality of his age in Norway as a novelist, dramatist, and lyric poet and in public affairs.

The novelists Jonas Lie and Alexander Lange Kielland, together with Ibsen and Bjørnson, were the major figures of modern Norwegian literature and were responsible for a remarkably large body of important work between 1870 and 1884, as the following titles illustrate: Ibsen’s works Et dukkehjem (A Doll’s House), Gengangere (Ghosts), En folkefiende (An Enemy of the People), and Vildanden (The Wild Duck); Bjørnson’s dramas Det ny system (The New System), En handske (A Gauntlet), and Over ævne (Beyond Human Power I) and his novelDet flager i byen og på havnen (The Heritage of the Kurts); Lie’s novels Gaa paa! (“Go Ahead!”), Livsslaven (“The Life Convict”; Eng. trans. One of Life’s Slaves), and Familjen paa Gilje (The Family at Gilje); and Kielland’s Skipper Worse (Eng. trans. Skipper Worse), Gift (“Poison”), and Fortuna (“Fortune”; Eng. trans. Professor Lovdahl). The foremost stylist of his age, Kielland was an elegant, witty novelist with a strong social conscience and an active reforming zeal stemming from an admiration for English philosopher John Stuart Mill.

The literature of the 1870s emphasized individual development and expression in keeping with the optimistic attitude of the times to social change and improvement. In the following decade, growing skepticism and disillusionment made writers more bitter in their attacks on “established” social institutions. The publication of Fra Kristiania-Bohêmen (“From the Christiania Bohemia”) in 1885 by Hans Henrik Jæger created, by its seeming advocacy of sexual license, a public scandal. The most extreme exponent of naturalism was Amalie Skram, especially in the four-volume novel Hellemyrsfolket (1887–98; “The People of Hellemyr”). Arne Evensen Garborg—a poet, novelist, dramatist, and critic—was a superb writer whose work reflected successive movements of Romanticism, realism, naturalism, and Neoromanticism. His wider reputation was first established with a novel, Bondestudentar (1883; “Peasant Students”), but perhaps his greatest achievement was the poem cycle Haugtussa (1895).

The 20th century

In the 1890s established Norwegian writers came under fire from a new generation. The manifesto of new ideas was an essay published in 1890 in the periodical Samtiden (“The Present Age”) by Knut Hamsun, “Fra det ubevidste sjæleliv” (“From the Unconscious Life of the Mind”), which demanded attention to what was individual and idiosyncratic rather than typical. Hamsun was impatient with contemporary emphasis on social problems, and his early novels—Sult (1890; Hunger), Mysterier (1892; Mysteries), and Pan (1894)—exemplified these ideas; his later novels, such as Markens grøde (1917; Growth of the Soil), were less extreme but still showed a strong, sometimes savage irony. Hamsun won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920.

Poetry and the novel

Lyricpoetry at this time flourished with Sigbjørn Obstfelder, who had a close affinity with the Symbolist movement, and Nils Collett Vogt, who produced some of the best lyrics of the 1890s. In drama Gunnar Heiberg, who combined a sharply satirical wit with a lyric deftness, expressed the new spirit in Kong Midas (1890), Gerts have (1894; “Gert’s Garden”), Balkonen (1894; The Balcony), and Kjærlighetens tragedie (1904; The Tragedy of Love). Sharing Hamsun’s preoccupation with the irrational side of human conduct was Hans E. Kinck, a writer of considerable power and penetration. In his verse drama Driftekaren (1908; “The Drover”) and long novel Sneskavlen brast (1918–19; “The Avalanche Broke”), Kinck showed himself to be a more reflective and analytical writer than Hamsun.

The real achievements of Norwegian literature in the first half of the 20th century were in the novel and lyric poetry. Drama was not conspicuous, except for the plays of Heiberg and Nordahl Grieg. In the early decades of the century, regionalism was a strong element, particularly in the novel; and authors adopted language coloured by dialect, thus becoming identified with their region. Kristofer Uppdal, of the midnorth region of Trøndelag, wrote a remarkable work—a 10-volume novel cycle, Dansen gjenom skuggeheimen (1911–24; “The Dance Through the Shadow World”). The novel also considered conflicts arising from the spread of industrialism, which Norway underwent later than did other European countries. The novelist and dramatist Oskar Braaten was closely affiliated with the labour movement, while Johan Falkberget wrote with understanding and historical insight about the miners in Røros in the trilogyChristianus Sextus (1927–35) and in Nattens brød (1940; “Bread of Night”). Sigrid Undset, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928, set her novels in many different ages, and their concern was to examine women’s loyalties within the framework of their role in society. A long historical novel, Kristin Lavransdatter (1920–22), is a masterpiece of Norwegian literature. Her later novels, Gymnadenia (1929; The Wild Orchid) and Den brændende busk (1930; The Burning Bush), were overtly influenced by her conversion to Roman Catholicism. Olav Duun, also of the midnorth region, revealed his insight into life as endless conflict in a six-volume novel cycle about the development of a peasant family through four generations—Juvikfolke (1918–23; The People of Juvik).

There were other accomplished and popular lyric poets writing prior to World War II, all of whom used traditional forms and regular metre and rhyme. They included Herman Wildenvey, who combined realism and romanticism in his light but elegant verse, and Olaf Bull, a more learned poet than Wildenvey. Bull vented in his meticulously crafted poems feelings of existential anxiety as well as yearnings for a woman’s love.

Olaf Bull

Courtesy of Norsk Telegrambyra

Arnulf Øverland, a highly public figure who wrote poems and essays and was a contributor to the Marxist journal Mot Dag (“Toward Day”), actively opposed both organized religion and modernist trends. Other socially committed writers of the interwar years were Grieg, Helge Krog, and Sigurd Hoel. Grieg, a poet, novelist, and playwright, was an avowed leftist who in his play Vår ære og vår makt (1935; “Our Honour and Our Glory”) assailed profiteering during World War I. He addressed pacifism in Nederlaget (1937; Defeat). Krog, best known for his dramas Konkylien (1929; “The Sounding Shell”) and Opbrudd (1936; Break-Up), was also a fine essayist and social critic. Although he shared the Mot Dag group’s political views, Hoel in his fiction probed the root causes of social ills via Freudian psychology rather than Marxist theories. His novel En dag i oktober (1931; One Day in October) created a public commotion because of its critical depiction of bourgeois marriage. He was at his best in portraits of the times, such as of the 1920s in Syndere i sommersol (1927; Sinners in Summertime) and of the Nazi occupation years in Møte ved milepelen (1947; Meeting at the Milestone).

Arnulf Øverland.

Courtesy of the Norwegian Information Service, New York

Tarjei Vesaas was one of several writers—among them Cora Sandel and Aksel Sandemose—who opened new horizons for Norwegian prose before and after World War II, each in distinctive ways. Vesaas, who wrote in Nynorsk, has been called Norway’s most provincial international writer; his works—especially Det store spelet (1934; The Great Cycle)—are firmly rooted in the Norwegian countryside, but their concerns are universal. Fuglane (1957; The Birds), through highly symbolic and sensitive prose, described life from the perspective of a mentally handicapped man. In both Kimen (1940; The Seed) and Huset i mørkret (1945; The House in the Dark), the latter an allegorical story of Norway during the Nazi occupation, Vesaas examined the forces of evil. Sandel was a French-influenced novelist and author of short stories. Her largely autobiographical Alberte trilogy (1926–39), a depiction of a young woman’s often torturous journey toward maturity and her artistic calling, resonated powerfully among women readers. Freudian, primitivist, and radical are among the epithets typically applied to Sandemose. A novelist and journalist, he was throughout all of his writing intent on attacking the self-satisfied but hypocritical petite bourgeoisie. His novels probe the depths of the human mind, especially its irrationality, through their use of allusion, fantasy, and broken chronologies. Sandemose also exhibited a profound understanding of a child’s world with novels such as En flyktning krysser sitt spor (1933; A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks). In Varulven (1958; The Werewolf), a novel about love, murder, and jealousy, he delved into the psychological forces behind Nazism.

Aksel Sandemose.

Courtesy of the Royal Norwegian Consulate General, New York City

Among the Scandinavian countries, Norway had some of the most painful experiences of World War II, which were widely reflected in the country’s postwar literature. While Finns, whose country also suffered greatly during the war, tended to concentrate on realistic depictions of the war itself, Norwegian authors focused on the nature of evil. Jens Bjørneboe did so in his novels (e.g., Før hanen galer [1952; “Before the Cock Crows”]) and plays in a very concrete and drastic manner. In later works, such as Frihetens øyeblikk (1966; Moment of Freedom), he probed the nature of evil across all of Western civilization. In her early short stories Torborg Nedreaas, also a politically committed author, retold stories from the war years, but she did so from a woman’s point of view. However, it was her Musikk fra en blå brønn (1960; Music from a Blue Well), about a young girl’s growing up, that brought her fame. Her focus remained always on the societal forces bearing down on the vulnerable individual.

Another important postwar literary figure was Johan Borgen, a novelist and short-story writer. Like Sandemose, he explored the darker sides of the human psyche and, in particular, the process of identity formation. He is best known for the Lillelord trilogy (1955–57; Eng. trans. in 1 vol. as Lillelord). Jeg (1959; “I”) is more experimental in form but continues Lillelord’s exploration of the question of identity in a self-reflexive manner.

Modernism and postmodernism after World War II

Rolf Jacobsen was one of the early modernists in Norwegian poetry. As early as the 1930s he used free verse and vivid images to express his concerns—such as his worries, especially in the 1970s, about the destruction of the environment—which were remarkably modern and account for his lasting popularity. The real champion of lyric modernism, however, was Paal Brekke, who from the late 1940s assailed the materialistic values of affluent Western society. Other notable modernists include Olav H. Hauge, writing in Nynorsk about everyday life, and Stein Mehren, a philosophical poet, essayist, and painter. Inger Hagerup and Marie Takvam are both best known for stylistically traditional love poems; Hagerup is also known for her poems written for children.

As in other European countries, the late 1960s and ’70s saw in Norway the rise of a new generation of radical writers advocating politically engaged, socially revolutionary literature. This so-called Profil group, named after a journal, included Tor Obrestad, Dag Solstad, Espen Haavardsholm, and Edvard Hoem. Many of their novels freely mixed documentary materials with fiction, as in Obrestad’s Sauda! Streik! (1972; “Sauda! Strike!”), but what united them all was a shared belief in the Maoist interpretation of Marxism-Leninism. In later works their tone changed. Some, like Solstad in Roman 1987 (1987; “Novel”), gave an accounting of the earlier era. Others, like Hoem, also a playwright, returned to the traditional novel (Frøken Dreyers musikkskole [2000; “Miss Dreyer’s Music School”]). Øystein Lønn, who debuted in the 1960s, critiqued modern society in novels and short stories characterized by their precise language, black humour, and open endings.

Lars Saabye Christensen, who first gained popularity with his novel Beatles (1984), won high praise for Halvbroren (2001; The Half Brother), a novel chronicling a family’s fate over several generations; its style successfully combined realistic narration with the fantastic. Jan Kjærstad’s breakthrough novel Homo Falsus; eller, det perfekte mord (1984; “Homo Falsus; or, The Perfect Murder”) exhibited postmodern features; his three-part “biography” of a fictional television celebrity, Jonas Wergeland, demonstrated how a skillful application of postmodernist strategies could lead to an exciting, multidimensional portrait of not just an individual but an entire epoch. Three very different women authors are Bjørg Vik, a short-story writer who portrayed, from a feminist viewpoint, the lives of contemporary women in their efforts to cope with societal demands, new freedoms, and their own emotional desires; Herbjørg Wassmo, whose Tora and Dina trilogies became best sellers in the 1980s and ’90s; and Cecilie Løveid, a postmodernist poet and playwright, one of the few who successfully challenged the Ibsenite tradition in drama. She probed the potential for love, family, and close human relationships in modern society. Her works are playful and rich in imagery, humour, and sensuality; they traverse various genres and art forms but always with women as protagonists. Jon Fosse is a playwright with an international reputation.